As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency leads the Trump administration’s push to return federal employees to in-person office work, federal departments are experiencing significant shifts.
The resurgence of office attendance under Trump contrasts sharply with the remote work dominance during the Biden era, leaving physical government spaces like cafeterias deserted, Daily Mail reported.
During the Biden administration, officials prioritized remote work, leaving many government buildings underutilized. The Department of the Interior experienced this firsthand, as the absence of staff forced it to close its cafeteria, symbolizing the broader impact of prolonged remote work policies.
As Biden's term progressed, his administration did not mandate full-time office attendance, which significantly reduced the physical presence within federal facilities.
President Donald Trump and Elon Musk have introduced aggressive policies aimed at reducing the federal workforce while ensuring that the remaining employees return to traditional work settings. Doug Burgum, Trump’s newly appointed Secretary of the Interior, pointed out that “there were so few people in the Interior office that the cafeteria closed,” underscoring the dramatic decrease in in-person attendance.
This push towards re-centralization is a response to what Musk and his team see as inefficiencies and a bloated workforce, which they believe can be streamlined significantly. Musk's stance is clear; he supports the idea of cutting down the workforce to save costs, and for those unwilling to adapt to the new in-person mandates, there should be no financial sympathy. “If federal employees don’t want to show up, American taxpayers shouldn’t pay them for the Covid-era privilege of staying home,” Musk wrote in a Wall Street Journal opinion essay.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has not only mandated returns to the office but also identified substantial savings through its auditing and restructuring initiatives. For example, they discovered $1.9 billion in misallocated funds within the Department of Housing and Urban Development, attributing this mishap to inefficient processes previously overlooked during Biden's administration.
Moreover, DOGE has taken remarkable steps towards fiscal prudence, canceling unnecessary contracts and leases and selling unneeded assets across numerous departments. This has culminated in Musk’s claim that DOGE has facilitated $55 billion in savings. These efficiency measures have sparked the introduction of a proposed "DOGE dividend," where each American taxpayer might receive $5,000 as a direct benefit from these savings.
Despite the robust cost-cutting measures, some of Trump’s interventions have shown a more moderated approach to DOGE’s initial cuts. Notably, Trump reversed specific staffing reductions at the Department of Energy, particularly those positions related to nuclear assets' oversight, highlighting the strategic considerations in workforce reductions.
Federal employees and the public have responded with mixed reactions. While some employees have embraced the changes, others have protested the new policies by taking holidays without showing up to work, illustrating significant resistance to the in-office mandates, according to an anonymous source.
Currently, as DOGE pushes to transition federal workers into the private sector and provides a respectful exit for those whose positions are eliminated, officials have yet to fully assess the broader implications of these shifts on federal operations and employee morale. Meanwhile, the nation watches as two starkly different administrative philosophies shape the future of federal employment and governance efficiency under contrasting presidential tenures.
